The Senate voted 71 to 27 against the resolution to block the billion-dollar sale of tanks, guns and other military equipment.

The resolution was put forward by Senators Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) and Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), who argued that Saudi Arabia's role in the conflict in Yemen and its human rights record make it a problematic recipient of American arms.

Murphy argued that all of the Saudi bombs, provided by the US, are being dropped on civilians and Yemen's Houthi faction, rather than being used against “our sworn enemy, Al-Qaeda.”

This war has given opportunity for Al Qaeda and Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS/ISIL) to grow in leaps and bounds, he said.

“How can you say you’re serious about strangling ISIL when the textbooks that are produced inside Saudi Arabia are the very same textbooks that are handed out to recruit suicide bombers?" Murphy asked on the Senate floor.

South Carolina Republican Senator, Lindsey Graham, argued in favour of the Saudi arms package, He said the deal would enable Saudi Arabia to fight ISIL and Al-Qaeda more aggressively and increase the kingdom’s military capability to counter increased threats from Iran.

He argued that the debate should be on re-imposing sanctions on Iran and not on whether to provide arms to Saudi Arabia, dubbing the discussion as “ass backwards”.

Graham said that the Iranians were the bad guys and that Saudi Arabia were US allies, albeit imperfect.

“If you drive this good partner Saudi Arabia away you will one day regret it”.